The Boundary of Art: Andy Warhol In the middle part of the 20th century, Abstract Expressionism rules the visual arts scene with a sense of serious experimentation that was in
its own way very constraining. The next generation of artists would appeal
to the media of popular culture as a way to simultaneously be liberated
from the prejudices of Expression and to broaden the palette of commercial
art. Turning concepts such as mass consumerism, the commoditization of
mankind and general materialism into a pointed philosophical statement, the
so-called 'Pop Art' movement would change significantly the both the visual
presentation and intended statement of the work dominating the scene in the
late 1950s and early 1960s. As our research shows, this would be a genuine
transition, as "n the later 1950s, Abstract Expressionism, which had
controlled the trend of art about ten years, ceded to a generation of
artists who experienced popular media: they were artists of Pop Art."
Where Abstract Expressionism was identified with such mercurial
figures as Jackson Pollock, famous for the shapeless splatter paintings
that represent his genre, Pop Art is more commonly associated with such
figures as Andy Warhol (1923-1987), who helped to popularize the theory
that those forms of visual expression often dismissed as commercial design
were in fact a valid form of artistic expression. Pop Artists would
proceed from the notion that the differentiation between fine art and
commercial art is a socioeconomic prejudice which inflates the value of
patrician visual expression over more popular forms. In demonstration of
this belief, Warhol would make himself the center of historical and
artistic debate by using commercial icons, images and media to provide
commentary on society.

1. Different ideas about essence of "art"
Like the Expressionists before him, Warhol attempted to create a new
use for art. In many ways, this was a more democratic way of looking at
artistic expression. Warhol perceived that art was a profession which
required financial compensation, not just for himself, but for purveyors of
visual arts throughout history. It would only be in the patronage of the
wealthy that 'fine artists' would be elevated in their compensation. To
Warhol, this excluded the common man both from creation and from ownership
of appealing artwork. Therefore, he determined to democratize the form by
creating works that could be mass produced. In this way, the earning
potential for the artist would be raised and the cost for the appreciator
could be lowered. Thus, it is understood that Warhol understood the
principles of classical art but philosophically eschewed them. According
to his biography, "it is firmly true that although Warhol studied Fine Art
in Pittsburgh, he was quite interested in advertising and its mechanisms
even as a student." In spite of the fact that Warhol was a successful
illustrator in commercial art, he wanted to create new work using mass-
produced methods, silk screen of illustration; he chose to use the
necessities of life in the mass-produced era. Therefore, Andy Warhol made
new perspective that has combination of both "art" and design.

2. Andy Warhol is an artist who creates and tries new things
One of Warhol's distinguishing features would be his boldness of concept.
Though
he would observe the lessons given by the Abstract Expressionists and
through his own classical education, these would form a counterpoint as he
sought to introduce new ideas to the field. He would succeed in doing so,
not just drawing on the media and images of material culture for his
expression, but even copping its mass production theories in the mechanized
silk-screening that helped to spread his images epidemically through 1960s
New York Indeed, Warhol commanded his own scene where the novelty of his
ideas flourished, with his studio becoming "a favored meeting place for the
artists, actors, dropouts and photographers that Warhol knew, as well as
for other members of the glitterati." In the studio, a lot of works were
created. Andy Warhol expressed images of the canned goods and Coca Cola,
ordinary products for repetitive or reproducible image. John Coplans says
that "the money, Coke, airmail and S&H stamps, glass label and Campbell's
soup can paintings enforce the issue of multiplicity of the image itself,
which as a motif is endlessly repeated." This is demonstrated in the
analysis hereafter:

Image 1: Campbell's Soup Can, 1962 Image 2: 5 Coca-Cola
Bottles, 1962
Perhaps Warhol's most iconic image, the Campbell's Soup can is a statement
on the way that brand names and familiar labels have achieved a sort of
elevated status in society based on our dependency upon consumer goods.
More importantly, it disrupted the formalism and prejudicial seriousness of
the art community, inviting mass culture to...

"Ever since the Marilyn series, Warhol has always used photographic silkscreens." The method of silk screen that is used to make
prints in quantity was his main method and connects important key points
between the business activity of a capitalistic age that gets profit by
making products in large quantities and selling Warhol's work. Starting
with her death in 1962, Marilyn Monroe became a familiar subject of
Warhol's work. He would use chromatic permutations to recast a nearly
identical image to reflect a limitless range of emotional possibilities.
Warhol's intention was to employ an assembly line effect to depicting
Monroe, who's succumbing to the inhumane pressures of her objectification
was precipitated by the iconography he elucidated. So was this true of
Elvis Presley, here depicted and similarly crushed under the weight of his
own celebrity. Warhol's perspective is distinguished from the conventional
glorification of Monroe or Presley's beauty, instead focusing on the
implications mass consumption and commodification are the primary means to
achieving happiness. Monroe's darling stature, social preeminence and
irreproachable achievement of perfect beauty had rendered her humanity a
separate being from the product for which she was the face. This is the
shred of the woman that Warhol seizes upon, screening the heavily
airbrushed headshot that adorned so many objects through filters of
pointedly unnatural color, presenting the heartbreaking bombshell in garish
fluorescence, absent of person

3. It is wrong to criticize the use of art for commercial value
Art may function without commercial support, but it is highly
unlikely that it will ever be appreciated. Artistic expression and
commercial enterprise are not to be seen as mutually exclusive from one
another. Quite to the contrary, these are often complimentary forces, with
the industrial artists finding ways to make a living in an era where
patronage is rarely done without commercial expectations. Warhol seemed to
predict this age, declaring, "I want to be a machine" and "paintings are
like stock a dealer is like a broker." So, "art" should think like
business if the artist is to survive.
The dismissal of Warhol's art, as well as of commercial design in a
more general sense, is a philosophical and economic prejudice that
overlooks the duality of his message. Indeed, Warhol broke down the
boundary between fine art and commercial art, revealing distinctions
between them as the invocation of false hierarchies. Thus, we can see that
"Warhol's art was never simply a reproduction of a commercial product,
which was a criticism made of his work during his lifetime. Years later we
can consider Warhol's art as one with a distinct style and radical choice
of subject matter and one which has withstood the test of time". As an
artist and as one of the great marketing ideologues in history, Warhol
changed the course of the artistic dialogue and broadened the scope for
that which can be appreciated on its artistic merits without being
discredited by its commercial context.

Bibliography

Bauer, Claudia. Andy Warhol. Nw York: Prestel, 2004.

Coplans, John. Andy Warhol. England: The Curwen press, 1989

Kinsman, Jane, "Soup can mania." Artonview, no. 49 (2007): 38-9.
http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com/hww/results/resultssinglefulltext.jhtml;hwwil
sonid=HJWLOMQXHRMITQA3DIMCFF4ADUNGIIV0

Ratcliff, Carter. Andy Warhol. New York: Abbeville Press, 1983.

Revy, Louisiana. Andy Warhol and his world: Nykredit, 2000

Image Source

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